Dispensing device for bait



Feb. 28, 1950 l D. 1.. DAVIS 2,498,795

DISPENSING DEVICE, FOR BAIT 2 SheetS-Shet 1 Filed June 6, 1946 r I I I I I I I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 D. L. DAVIS DISPENSING DEVICE FOR BAIT Feb. 28, 1950 Flled June 6 1946 Patented Feb. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT orricc DISPENSING DEVICE FORBAIT."

. Douglas L. Davis, Fullerton, Calif;

Application- June 6, 1946, Serial No. 67-45131):

2 Glaimsr 1 The present invention relates to improvements in receptacles. and'rnore particularly 130' means for delivering contents of: the-box-outsidethereof insuccessive intervals" whilst restraining, contents coming? out together during-any singleinterval;

The: invention lends itselfirparticularly foriservice' and use in connection'wi'tlr delivering fisher-- mans bait out oi. a container in. a. manner con:- sistent with obtaining: outside: of the containera single bait unit each time' a'door is opened for this purpose, Whilst'preventingr another" bacltxunit from leaving the interior otz'theboxsasrthis' is being done.

One of theobj'ects thereof is: to provid'e a simple;. eificient and inexpensive receptacle holding bait or similar contents and; provided with dependable means for delivering: the: bait units; one at. a: or in a manner holding'backsome'bait from" coming out whilst causing; desired bait" to: come out of. the receptacle forpiacing upon the hook of. a fishing-line.

Another object thereof. is to providefoolprooi closure means for the" bait holding container or receptacle which permits:- the opening, out of which'the bait is: delivered, to be closed before bait isextracted therefrom and immediately after the bait has been delivered outside of the box for accessibility.

A still further ob-jectthereof is to provide: a container with atrapdoor"so-shaped, arranged and functioning that the doorway out of which bait is delivered bythetrapdoor may: be closednot only before operation of the trap door butas soon as the'bait has been delivered by it outside of the doorway- Another object thereof is to provide a bait delivering receptacle with. a sector-shaped. carrier for holding the bait which ejects bait from inside of the receptacle upon itself when it is positioned outside of the receptacle, which closes the receptacle opening from which thebait comes, when delivered", and closes the same opening when it is repositioned inside of the receptacle readyfor another operation of delivering bait.

A further object of this invention is to provide, in a container of the kind. described, means for" manually setting the bait delivering. member within the container in operative position to deliver bait, together with means for manually actuating it to automatically eject. bait out of; the container.

Another object of this invention is to provide a container of approved shape with a trap door which in client provides interchangeably operating' closures for a. doorway in. the container; 'Ijhe (-Cl. 222F364.)

disposition: of. the trap door this container is such that when one closure thereof is moved: into engagement with one sideof the doorway, inside of the container,,to close the doorway, the other closure thereof moves exteriorl-y of, thecontainer into sheli iorming position to: receive and hold the bait deliveredby the first named closure. When the first named closure is retracted or displaced from the" doorway then the other'and outside closure moves to close the doorway in turn. This assures that the: doorway is only temporarily and. intermittently unbarred at. any time in the operation: of the trap door, and when it is necessary to do this to prevent any thingelse coming out eithe container in the act of delivering something therefrom.

With the-above and other objects. in view, my invention, consists in the; combination, arrange-- ment and details: oi construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and. then more par-- ticularly pointed out. in the; appended claims.

In the drawings,

Whereinsimilar reference characters designate similar parts-throughout the. respective views,

25 Figure 1 is atop plan-view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of invention, taken on the line-.2-2,

Figure 3- is a frontelevation of the device shown in Figure l,

Figuredis a fragmentary section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a fragrnentary sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a rear endelevationoi a modified form of my invention, and

Figure 7 is a. longitudinal sectional view taken on line 'l-'i of Figure 6'.

In the drawings, which are merely illustrative of my invention, the-variousparts: of my invention are disclosed. It is wellknown that fishermen who are engaged inextensive bait fishing activities resort constantly to removing. bait from a container. It has been ,foundinconveniently unsuitable to use cans. which are open todischarge the bait, unless the can is covered up in such a way that not too many bait will come out when the can is shaken for this purpose. This is hard. to do in a time saving, serviceable manner; The present invention. provides a container from which bait may be shaken out controlledly in a manner to instantly close the discharge opening in the container the moment bait has been shaken out.

The container or boxis 0 2 any-approved Shape and design, being. preferably rectangular in configuration. In Figure 7 is shown a single box, while in Figure 2 is shown a dual box having two compartments so that either end of the container may be employed to deliver the desired bait. Either style will be found equally effective when constructed in the following manner.

The box, rectangular in shape, consists of preferably plastic transparent side walls In and I I a top Wall 12. A central partition l4 may also be provided to divide the interior of the container into separate compartments as shown in Figure 2. The top of the container is formed with a plurality of tiny air holes l3. The bottom wall of the container is denoted at 15, and the front wall is designated I 6. A doorway is cut into the front wall Hi, the oppositely arranged side edges of which extend vertically and are designated l1, 18, while its top edge is designated I9. Its bottom surface is the bottom of the container.

The rear wall of the container is designated 20. It is formed also with a plurality of tiny holes or air ports 2|. The holes [3 and 2| provide means for ventilating the interior of the box. The bottom wall l5 of the container, at a point between the ends of the container, is rabbeted out as at 22 in case a one compartment container is had, and at two intermediate points as at 22, 23, where a two compartment container is desired. The rabbeting out of the bottom wall I5 thins out this wall beginning with the ridge 22 or 23 and continuing to the front face of the container. This provides a seat 24 upon the bottom surface 25 of which may be registered one of the two radial sides of a sector shaped bait carrier now to be described.

This sector-shaped carrier is generally designated '21. A rod or pintle 26, as shown in Figure 4, has its ends fitted into the side walls l6 and II of the container rigidly so the rod may not turn. The sector-shaped carrier comprises, in construction, the sector-shaped oppositely arranged side walls 28, 29, the right angularly disposed radially disposed walls 30 and 3|. It may be moulded out of plastic material in one transparent piece if desired. At the corner of the carrer in the angle made by radial walls 36, 3| thereof, the pintle or rod 26 passes through the side walls 28, 29 of the carrier for the purpose of pivotally mounting this carrier in the lower front corner of the container.

It will be seen that the rod or pintle 26 is positioned in the side walls of the container slightly above the bottom surface 25 of the rabbeted portion 24 of the bottom wall l5 of the container. It will also be seen that the radial walls 36, 3| of the sector shaped carrier are substantially of equal dimensions. As thus pivotally mounted in the container, either radial panel or wall 30 and 3| of the carrier constitutes a closure for the mentioned doorway at the front of the container designated by the arrow 3la in Figure 2. They are made long enough to overlie opposite sides of the doorway for interchangeably closing the doorway.

The sector-shaped carrier may readily be moved into and out of the container, being accommodated for swinging movement in the rabbeted portion 24 of the bottom of the container. The arcuate edges of the side walls 28 and 29 of the carrier are designated 32. A series of cross rods 33 have their ends connected operatively into these side Walls 28, 29 of the carrier for bracing the same effectively if desired to do so. The space below the carrier and rabbeted 4 surface '24 is designated in Figure 5 at 34. It allows the corner of the carrier to move therein as the carrier moves inside or outside of the container.

In order to be able, automatically, to actuate the sector shaped carrier, use is made of a coiled spring 35, which is wound around the rod 26, upon that part of it which spans the side walls 28, 29 of the carrier. One end of this spring, at one end of the rod, on the carrier, is secured or anchored rigidly into this rod. The other end of the spring 35 is provided with a terminal finger 38 which has its extreme outer end 39 operatively hooked into the bottom or radial wall 30 of the carrier. This spring holds the carrier outside of the container at all times under its own inertia.

It will be observed that a catch is provided over the doorway. It is a vertically slidable body 46 mounted in a suitable keeper 41 carried by the front wall [6 above the doorway, and it carries a suitably shaped handle 42 by means of which it may be grasped and moved upwardly or downwardly in the keeper. In Figure '7, it is seen that the front wall I6 is rabbeted out at 46 transversely of the doorway to provide a counterseat 44 for the radial wall or panel 30 of the sector-shaped carrier. This same front wall It, as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3, in a plane with the rabbeted portion 46, is chamfered out vertically as at 43 to form a groove in which the slide catch 40 is movable in countersunk relation in this wall 5.

The device operates as follows. The bait, whether worms, grasshoppers or the like are placed in the interior of the container or box, and located in either compartment thereof. To do this the sector-shaped carrier may be swung upon its pivotal pintle or rod 26 so wall !6 of the container is disposed midway between radial walls 30, 3| of the carrier. This exposes and renders accessible the upper plane of the doorway and enables the bait to be introduced into the interior of the container. The carrier has been swung against the tension of coiled spring 35, since upon raising radial wall 36 of the carrier, the finger 38 of the spring is also raised which is what tensions the spring. This spring normally holds this radial wall 30 outside of the container in forwardly projecting position where it, together with the side walls 28, 29, of the carrier, serve to confine and support the bait ejected from inside of the container. In this position of radial wall 30, the other perpendicularly disposed radial wall 3| engages and overlies the rear side of front wall l6 of the container and closes the doorway with a pressed fit. This prevents the worms or grasshoppers from crawling out of the box and confines them within the container, except when the carrier is actuated.

When the container is not in use for delivering bait, the carrier will be swung upon its pintle 26 so as to move radial back wall 3! downwardly in the interior of the container so it overlies the surface 24 of the rabbeted portion 24 of the bottom l5 of the box in countersunk relation, so its upper face is flush with the adjacent upper face the bottom l5 as shown in the left of Figure 2.

As this takes place the other radial wall 30, which has just been outside of the container, is moved upwardly so as to engage the outer side of front wall I6 of the box. This panel 36 will have its upper marginal edge countersunk overlapping in the rabbeted portion or seat 44 of this wall which will effectively close the doorway. As this carrier has thus been moved on its pivot pintle 26, spring 35 has again been put under hold of the container in his hands and lifts its 7 rear end up and then .shakes the container to locate bait upon the false bottom constituted by the radial wall 3| of the sector shaped carrier. He then slides the catch 40 upwardly in its keeper to deposit it in groove 43 and retract it from engagement with the radial wall 30 of the carrier. Immediately the catch 40 is released, the carrier flies open under the influence of spring 35 which now relaxes. What is done isthe radial wall 3| is raised out of rabbeted portion 24 of the bottom l5 of the box, and swung upon its pintle 26, to perpendicular position. Whatever bait rested upon this wall has quickly beencarried or ejected out of the interior of the box and deposited upon the outside of this wall 3| or else upon the Wall 3| thereof which has now assumed a. horizontal shelf-like appearance. This expulsion of bait from inside of the container is instantaneous because the spring snaps back as quickly, and impacts the wall or trap door 3| against the back side of the front wall Hi. This flash-like operation of the sector-shaped carrier effectually serves the purpose of confining within the box the bait that was not adhering to the upwardly moving part of the carrier in its doorway closing movement. Any surplus bait ejected ma readily be retransferred back into the interior of the box by slightly raising the carrier outside of the box.

It will be seen from Figure 3 that an eyelet A is secured into the upper end of the front side of the case. A chain or string B is attached to this eyelet for convenience in securing the device to assure it will not be lost.

I do not intend to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed but will cover all variations falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What I desire to claim and secure by patent is: 1. A fishermans bait box comprising top, bottom, side and end walls, said bottom wall formed with an upwardly opening recess at one end thereof, one of said end walls formed with an opening therethrough at the lower end registering with an end of said recess, said one end wall also formed with a recess along the upper marginal edge of said opening, a carrier, a pivot for said carrier in the corner of said box above said recess, a pair of right angularly related closure forming walls on said carrier extending radially from said pivot, spaced apart segmental arcuate side walls on said carrier, said closure formin walls disposed on opposite sides of said one end wall, the upper end of said closure forming walls being adapted to abut the upper marginal edge of. said opening, the inner of said closure forming walls being swingable for disposition in the recess of said bottom. wall, the upper edge of the outer of said closure forming walls engageable in said marginal recess, and spring means biasing said inner closure wall from its associated recess for closing said opening in the said one end wall.

2. A fishermans bait box as set forth in claim 1 including a latch on said one end wall engageable with said outer closure forming wall securing said outer wall in closed position over the opening of said one end wall.

DOUGLAS L. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 503,722 Lewis et a1. Aug, 22, 1893 1,938,519 Defienbaugh Dec. 5, 1933 2,050,756 Kubo Aug. 11, 1936 2,102,772 Watts Dec. 21, 1937 2,121,516 Woo June 21, 1938 ,160,436 Jones May 30, 1939 

